Cactus pear variety named ‘DAR 1-27-24 Orange’

ABSTRACT

A new and distinct variety of cactus pear having the following unique combination of desirable features:
         1. A fruit with a yellow/orange colored edible interior portion.   2. An average Brix of 13.1%   3. An average firmness of the pulp of 3.1 lb   4. An average pulp percentage of 55%.   5. A fruit weight ranging from 140 to 220 g.   6. Cladodes that have a low percentage of areoles with spines and those areoles only have 1 spine per areole of maximum length of 10 mm.

Latin name of the genus and species of the plant claimed: Opuntiaficus-indica L. Miller.

Variety denomination: ‘DAR 1-27-24 Orange’.

No federal or state sponsored research funding was used in thedevelopment of these materials.

Fruits of spiny and spineless Opuntia ficus indica are about 110-180grams, range from 12 to 15% total soluble solids (Brix), have a varietyof fruit colors, i.e. green, orange, red and purple, and have been grownin many arid regions of the world such as Mexico, Brazil, Chile,Argentina, Spain, Italy, Israel, and South Africa for commercial fruitproduction (Parish and Felker, 1997). The market use of the fruit is tobe consumed fresh after the peel is removed. Mexico is the world centerof production with great variation in spines, fruit colors, dates ofmaturity and Brix (Mondragon and Gonzalez, 1996). While the lime greenvariety ‘Reyna’ is the leading cactus pear variety in Mexico (Mondragonand Gonzalez, 1994), this variety has long spines that prevent itscultivation in the USA due to objections from harvesting crews.Mondragon and Gonzalez, (1996) have reported fruits of many colors, butthey have not provided experimental details on field design, laboratorymethods or coefficients of variation for these properties and they donot provide data on firmness of the edible inner portion which Felker etal., (2005) have suggested needs to be greater than 2.2 lb for a goodquality fruit. Moreover D'Arrigo Bros data on fruit Brix, firmness,weight, peel thickness, percentage of edible portion on more than 30,000fruit of existing varieties and progeny of new crosses is not inagreement with Brix values of 15-16 for red or purple colored fruitsreported by Mondragon and Gonzalez, (1996). Opuntia fruit data, fromrefereed journal articles with field and laboratory experimental detailsand estimates of variation, have been provided by Barbera et al.,(1992), Nerd et al., (1991) and Felker et al., (2005).

In 1998, copies of the more than 100 Opuntia clones obtained fromKingsville, Tex. (that were later deposited in the USDA Opuntiagermplasm collection in Parlier, Calif.) that represented all of themajor types present in Mexico, South Africa, Argentina and Chile. Asdescribed below, none of the existing cultivars met the objectives ofhigh pulp firmness (>2.8 lb), high Brix (>13), thornlessness and orangecolor in the same plant and therefore hybridizations were conducted toobtain the desired variety. This collection included the Kingsville,Tex. accession 1287 with long spines that has acceptable firmness andbrix that was collected at Agua Prieta, Mexquite, San Luis Potosi andthat is similar to the spiny ‘Naranjona’ described by Mondragon andGonzalez (1996).

There are extensive plantations of cactus pear for fruit in theMediterranean, principally Sicily but also Spain and Israel. Opuntiaficus indica was brought to Spain on one of the first voyages ofChristopher Columbus from where it spread to the rest of theMediterranean region. In the largest commercial production area of theMediterranean in Sicily, there are 3 varieties, ‘Rossa’ (with redfruit), ‘Gialla’ (with yellow fruit) and ‘Bianca’ (with almost colorlessfruit) (Barbera et al., 1992). These three varieties were essentiallythe same with regard to fruit quality with a maximum Brix of about 13%(Barbera et al., 1992). Nerd et al., (1991) in Israel, found the Brix ofthe summer ‘Ofer’ variety (which is yellow and similar to the Giallafrom Sicily) to be 11.8% in the winter and 12.8% in the summer. InArgentinean field trials, Texas A&M Kingsville (TAMUK) accession 1281(which is very similar to the Italian ‘Rossa’) and TAMUK 1277, and 1320(which are similar to Italian ‘Gialla’) had Brix values of about 12.6,12.7 and 13.0 respectively (Felker et al., 2005).

In spite of acceptable fruit sugar concentrations of about 13% in highyielding varieties, such as Italian ‘Rossa’ and ‘Gialla’ types(including 1281, 1277, 1320), these varieties have very low pulpfirmness of about 2 lb (versus 4 lb for spiny orange 1287 and greenfruited Argentine and Chilean varieties) which lead to poor consumeracceptance in Argentina (Felker et al., 2005). While firmness is theparameter measured, the objectionable quality is that pulps with lowfirmness value lack structural integrity and may break apart when thepeel is separated from the pulp. A pulp firmness of about 2.2 lb hasbeen suggested as the minimum acceptable for cactus fruit (Felker etal., 2005).

In the USA, the only commercial variety, the ‘Andyboy Red’, is similarto the Italian ‘Rossa’ and has a Brix of about 13.5 in the summer cropbut maybe as low as 10.5 in the mid winter crop. Perhaps due to thecooler weather of the growing region in the USA, the red fruits do notbreak apart when peeled, but they are not as firm and juicy as othertypes. The ‘Andyboy Red’ is also in the low range of pulp firmness ofabout 2 lb. In the USA, the major demand from consumers is for the redcolored fruit which also has higher antioxidant values than the yellowor green fruits, but is less than the purple ones (Stintzing et al.,2005).

Due to the attractive orange color, juicy pulp, and firmness of 4 lb, TX1287 has fruit that is much more desirable than other yellow/orangefruit such as TX 1320, TX 1277 and TX 1380 that have a firmness lessthan 2 lb (Felker et al., 2005). Unfortunately the presence of multiple2-4 cm spines at each areole prevents commercial harvest of the TX 1287fruit due to safety considerations. In addition to the published work onthe lack of firmness in essentially spineless orange fruit, one of us(PF) has visited cactus plantations in South Africa, Italy, Mexico,Chile and Argentina and has not found firm, high Brix purple fruits inany existing germplasm collection.

Therefore using the basic crossing technique of Wang et al., (1996),hybrids were made between thornless high firmness, high Brix fruits andthorny, high firmness, high Brix orange fruits to develop a high Brix,high firmness, and thornless orange fruited variety with a goodcommercial yield. Progeny of various crosses were planted near Chualar,Calif. and evaluated for Brix and firmness using previously describedtechniques (Felker et al., 2005). About one dozen clones of each colorclass (green, orange, red and purple) from more than 3000 progeny ofvarious crosses were selected and planted in a randomized complete blocktrial with four replicates (with one plant per replicate) to directlycompare fruit characters for these advanced selections. For two years,several fruits were taken from each of the four replicates, once a monthfrom about September till May. The best orange fruited variety of thisrandomized complete block trial, originally from Block 1, row 27 plant24 of this trial was found to have the best overall combination ofcharacters and is the subject of this patent. The parents of this plantwere a spiny orange fruited TX1287 and a spineless green fruited plantR7:53YT:1-01-05 from our germplasm collection. None of the parents havebeen patented or have patent pending.

Asexual Propagation

All cactus pear varieties are asexually propagated by cutting anapproximate one year old cladode from the mother plant, allowing the cutscar to heal over for approximately 2 weeks and then planting thisunrooted cladode (botanically a portion of a dicot stem) about ⅓ of itsheight into dry soil. If the cladode does not rot, 100% of them willroot in less than a month without any hormone treatments.

Apomixis that is the asexual reproductive process that occurs in theovule of flowering plants frequently occurs in Opuntia ficus indica(Mondragon-Jacobo, 2001). While the ratio of apomictic seedlings toseedlings resulting from fertilization varies greatly among femaleparents, we have found that apomixis occurs in this new variety. Thusthis variety could be propagated asexually from apomictic seedlings. Itis envisioned that this variety could be genetically engineered toinclude other traits.

This variety is asexually propagated by planting unrooted cladodes. Theclaimed plant retains its distinctive characteristics and reproducestrue to type in successive generations.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to overcoming soft, low Brix characteristics inorange fruited cactus pears by controlled hybridization to producecactus pears with significantly greater fruit firmness and total solublesolids (Brix).

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In FIG. 1 can be seen the exterior and interior view of fruits of ‘DAR1-27-24 Orange’ at optimal harvest conditions after the spines andglochids have been removed.

In FIG. 2 can be seen immature ‘DAR 1-27-24 Orange’ fruits showing theglochids.

FIG. 3 illustrates a one year old cladode of ‘DAR 1-27-24 Orange’showing spines on the flat surface and margins of a cladode.

FIG. 4 shows a mature plant of ‘DAR 1-27-24 Orange’ illustrating theoverall decumbent plant shape and form of the cladodes. This plant wasthinned to increase fruit size.

FIG. 5 shows an open flower of ‘DAR 1-27-24 Orange’ showing petalcolors, stigma and dehiscing anthers.

DETAILED BOTANICAL DESCRIPTION

The color chart used in this specification follows The RoyalHorticultural Society Color Chart year 1996. The fruits have a mediumelliptic shape. At optimal harvest conditions, the external peel colorranges from 171B to 168B, while the interior edible portion of the fruitranges from 34A to 40B. Other red and purple varieties are too soft ifharvested when 100% of the fruit surface has the red or pink color andmust be harvested when only 50-60% of the fruit is covered with thisreddish/purple color. In contrast, due to the high firmness, thisvariety can be harvested when 95% of external peel surface is orange.There are about 48 areoles per fruit in which the number of glochids perareola greater than 2 mm in length is about 3. The maximum length ofglochids greater than 2 mm in length is about 8 mm as can be seen inFIG. 2. There are fewer than 100 glochids per areole less than 1 mm inlength. There is no pubescence. According to the UPOV classification,the stalk length is medium and the classification of the floral scardepression is 2. The peel thickness is about 6 mm.

While this variety does not have multiple, long (3-5 cm) spines comingout from each areole of the cladodes as do Opuntias from the wild, itdoes have single small semi erect spines of color 155D about 10 mm inlength coming out of some of the areoles FIG. 3. These spines occur mostfrequently on the margins of the cladode but can also be seen on theflat side of the cladodes. There are about 30 areoles per cladode with acolor of 166A. There are no glochids on one year old mature pads. Thecladodes, which have a color of 137C, have a smooth surface that is notwaxy or pubescent. The sizes of the cladodes are greatly influenced bythe climate and growing conditions. Nevertheless, near Gonzalez, Calif.where these plants are grown, a typical mature pad would have a mediumelliptic shape and be about 55 cm long, 24 cm wide and 2.2 cm thick. Amature 4 year old plant is about 4 meters wide and 2.5 meter tall.

The flower diameter is about 6 cm and the length of the flower only (notincluding the immature supporting bud) is about 3.5 cm long. The lengthof supporting immature bud, when the flower is open, varies from about 2cm to 7 cm depending on season of the year and moisture/fertilityconditions. The flowers lack fragrance. The color of the broad ellipticshaped petals ranges is about a 7A of the yellow-orange group. Only onestigma, with a height of about 7 mm, occurs with a light green color(144B). The style has a color of 63B on the top and 2D on the bottom.There are about 500 stamens per flower that are about 18 mm long andthat have color 2D. Anthesis, in the location where the plants aregrown, peaks in May and June depending on the weather but some anthesisoccurs as late as November. The flowers are not pollinated by honey beesbut rather by a specialized cactus bee that makes its nest in holes inthe ground.

In Table 1 can be found a comparison of the means and 95% confidenceintervals for 93 analyses of Texas A&M 1281 which is a red fruitedvariety, that is very similar to the commercial ‘Rossa’ from Italy, fourexisting, thornless orange varieties and our new orange variety ‘DAR1-27-24 Orange’. It is to be noted that the Brix of 12.7, fruit size of145 grams and 55% pulp percentage for TX 1281 is similar to publishedvalues for the ‘Rossa’ variety described above. In contrast, the averageof 140 analyses for ‘DAR 1-27-24 Orange’ shows a similar Brix to theother orange varieties, a slight decrease in pulp percentage (from 58 to55), but a 63% increase in firmness (from 1.9 to 3.1). The average fruitweight of ‘DAR 1-27-24 Orange’ at 191 grams is considerably larger than1281 and the other orange fruit varieties as well.

TABLE 1 A comparison of new ‘DAR 1-27-24 Orange’ Opuntia ficus indicawith orange fruit to a standard commercial red type fruit TX 1281, astandard yellow/orange type and progeny that have orange fruit ofvarious crosses i.e. DAR 7-53:1-35-18, DAR 7-53:1-20-08 and DAR7-53:1-20-18. Average Average 95% Average 95 % Number Average 95% of 95%CI of Fruit CI of of pulp CI of of of Brix CI of firmness of weightfruit percent pulp Variety analyses (%) Brix (lb) firmness (g) weight(%) percent ‘DAR 1-27-24 140 13.3 0.13 3.1 0.12 191.4 7.1 55 0.9 Orange’TX1281  93 12.7 0.21 1.9 0.08 145.5 5.3 55 1.3 DAR Yellow 120 13.3 0.221.8 0.07 149.3 7.0 55 1.1 DAR 7-53: 144 12.7 0.25 1.9 0.07 147.6 6.1 581.1 1-35-18 DAR 7-53: 139 13.1 0.22 1.9 0.05 146.1 5.3 58 0.8 1-20-08DAR 7-53: 128 12.9 0.23 1.8 0.07 152.2 6.2 59 1.0 1-20-18

With regard to seed content, the TX 1281 had 4.59 grams of seeds per 100gram of edible pulp(with a 95% confidence interval of 0.56) while the‘DAR 1-27-24 Orange’ had 3.55 grams of seeds per 100 grams of pulp (witha 95% confidence interval of 0.48)

In the area where these cacti are grown commercially in Gonzalez,Calif., approximately 40 km from the Pacific Ocean, the maximum dailytemperatures during the growing season rarely exceed temperatures of 30C for more than a few hours. However occasionally in the fall of theyear, the orchards experience daily maximum temperatures of 35 C forseveral days This abrupt change in temperature, results in somevarieties, particularly green varieties without any betaxanthin orbetacyanin pigments, to experience serious damage to fruit quality. Inthis case, the edible portion of the fruits has changed from an opaquesolid appearance to a water soaked, translucent appearance. Thisphenomenon has been denoted “clearing” by growers. In contrast to thegreen fruited varieties, this orange ‘DAR 1-27-24 Orange’ does notexperience “clearing”.

In the location where the varieties are grown in the cool coastal regionof central California, normally the date of first picking is the middleof September and the date of last picking is May 10. Under optimalstorage conditions of refrigeration and humidity control, this nonclimacteric fruit has a shelf life of about 3 weeks. The plant canwithstand a few hours of 20 F with the only damage being to flowers andimmature cladodes. Temperatures in the Salinas Valley where the plantsare grown never exceed 98 F and the plants suffer no damage from thesetemperatures. The plant is has good vigor in producing new cladodes fromMarch/April until late November.

The major disease is known as engrosamiento de cladodios (pad swelling)in Mexico that causes stunting of fruits and pads. Our recent researchindicates this is caused by an Umbravirus that is transmitted by cowpeaaphids. To date all commercial fruit type varieties are susceptible tothis virus. The plant is also susceptible to damage from wild cochineal(Dactylopius spp) insects.

1. A new and distinct orange fruited Opuntia ficus indica plant named‘DAR 1-27-24 Orange’, substantially as illustrated and described,characterized by equivalent Brix and increased firmness over anythornless, orange fruited cactus pear variety.